Panasonic DMR-HWT130EB Freeview+ HD Hard Disk Recorder with Twin HD Terrestrial Tuner, Black

The Panasonic DMR-HWT130EB was delivered promptly and was well packaged. It was complete in all respects with cables, remote control (including batteries) and a full instruction manual. Apart from a tiny mark (which is completely hidden once installed) it looks like new. It is a complicated device and has taken some time to fully understand but I can now confirm that it works perfectly. Very pleased!

Works ok but seems to need resetting now and then.

I bought this Panasonic to replace my ageing Humax 9200T because of the increasing number of HD channels.Naturally, finding your way around the menus is a bit different so it takes a bit of getting used to. Some features are 'blocked' while you're recording which the Humax was able to "multi-task" but what's the point in making the box too "clever" if it's constantly locking up!So far, the Panasonic has behaved perfectly and I'm more than happy to forego a feature or two if it means the box is more reliable.Its twin tuners can't record two programmes while watching a third but the ability to do so was so quirky in the Humax (only certain channels being available), on balance it's better without it!The remote controls the TV's volume control but has no 'mute' button. I found all the functions I needed to operate the Panasonic could be incorporated into a One-for-All URC7140 universal remote so the mute button was easily added.Plus Points (compared with the Humax 9200T):Great picture quality even on the SD channels.Ability to renumber channels in the EPG to enable, for example, BBC1 HD to be in EPG channel 1 position.Ability to scan channels by region (as well as manually and automatically) to avoid picking up wrong region.Doesn't constantly lock up.Very little lag between pushing a button on the remote and the Panasonic responding (MUCH less lag than the Humax).Quiet - no fan.Small size.Things I miss (compared with the Humax):The EPG doesn't have a cursor to indicate the current time.The EPG doesn't have a "Find" function.The Panasonic obviously gains new features through the internet wired connection (separate - expensive - dongle needed if you want to use wireless) so I haven't included those in the comparison.Humax boxes are always held up as the "Gold Standard" and I've never understood why! Mine was slow, laggy and forever locking up. So far (two weeks), the Panasonic hasn't hiccuped once.

This is the second Panasonic HD recorder I've bought. It's very similar to my earlier 1 Ter model. So far, it has worked very well and I have no complaints. I would urge anyone to get extra repair cover on one of these machines. The tuning stage of my original recorder failed after a year and I was far from impressed by help from Panasonic who tried their absolute best to convince me I was doing something wrong with it. Fortunately, it was under extended guarantee and the engineer replace this section, clearly aware of what was wrong straight away. What you can't do with these recorders is save any recordings from them in a usable form on a USB stick, or seperate hard drive. Panasonic have decided to encrypt the material to prevent this, which is really annoying. The recorder will play back material recorded in most normal video formats using a computer like MP4 or AVI, but not the newer H.265 codec, which nobody seems to like anyway.Generally speaking, these machines are easy to use once you've grasped the details in the instructions, which I found a little baffling to begin with. The playback quality of regular and HD quality is exactly the same as broadcast material and you can record two different HD channels while you watch something else.Apart from the things I've mentioned, this is a good machine and I'd certainly recommend it.

It has taken me while to find a replacement for my old Humax TV Recorder. After carrying out research on Amazon this Panasonic seemed to be the least-worst option as it was the Best Seller (I am now left feeling rather sheepish)I have just set the box up and this is what I don't like on day one, there won't be a day two!POORLY DESIGNED REMOTE CONTROL- Too many black buttons and not enough highlights of functional buttons i.e. Internet, Radio/TV (see image provided)- There is a Back/Return button which should which has y two opposing functions i.e. Back and Enter depending on the menu- The volume control only works after pairing the TV panel with the make of TV. This worked for my Sony TV (something positive!)- There is no mute button so you will still need to use the original TV remote or speaker remote for this very basic functionNOT SO SMART TV- There is only the BBC iPlayer. There are no players: All 4, ITV Hub or My5- Netflix is unusable, It is sow and clunky and search feature doesn't work, if it does I gave up after 10 minutesGENERAL NAVIGATION IS SLOW AND CLUNKY- Keyboard functionality and navigation is slow and inconsistent.- On one screen each character is separated by a space so you have to truncate the details providedTHIS EQUIPMENT USES OLD TECHNOLOGY AND IS ALREADY SHOWING ITS AGE- I will be returning this unit and continuing my quest for a smart TV Recorder